Tauranga sixth at national indoor bowls finals

Anthony Ouellet from Tauranga is competing in the Singles section of the National Indoor Bowls finals at Pukekohe this weekend. Photo: NZ Indoor Bowls

The Tauranga indoor bowls team is in sixth place after intense matches at the national finals in Pukehohe on Saturday.

Otago has come from behind to snatch the lead for the first time after four rounds of the scheduled five in the 68th Welch Trophy inter-district national final at the Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club on Saturday.

At the end of the second day’s play with one session remaining the points are Otago 83, Auckland 82, North Taranaki 80, Hutt Valley 69.5, Canterbury 63 and Tauranga 54.5.

In a dramatic round of fours Otago and Auckland won both of their games. This allowed Auckland to retain the lead at that stage but Otago suddenly became a contender when they moved in to second equal place with North Taranaki which had started out with a hiss and roar on Friday night to lead after the first session.

In the fourth round of singles, North Taranaki scored ten points to Auckland’s eight and Otago’s seven. At this stage Auckland held a two point lead over North Taranaki with Otago in third.

However the pairs saw Otago win three games to North Taranaki and Auckland’s one to propel them into the lead.

The final session on Sunday is a nail biting cliffhanger with the Welch Trophy on the line.

The leading performances to date have been provided by Rodney Mills, Auckland and Brandon Williams and Nicholas Sinclair, Otago each winning nine games out of twelve.